Written Answers Monday 22 February 2010

Scottish Executive

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive for what reason Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline 87, Management of oesophageal and gastric cancer, states that "Oesophageal and gastric cancers occur mainly in people over 55 years of age" when many cases occur in people under the age of 55.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) Guideline 87 is intended to guide the management of any patient with oesophageal or gastric cancer, regardless of age. It does not state that these cancers occur exclusively in the over 55 age range. However, the incidence of these cancers is higher in people over 55 years of age, with 91% of oesophageal cancer and 92.5% of gastric cancer cases occurring in people over 55 years of age, between 2003-07. Use of the term "mainly" reflects these data.

  Further information on the incidence of oesophageal cancer can be found at http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1493.html, and information on the incidence of gastric cancer can be found at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/1503.html.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what is being done to improve early detection and treatment of oesophageal cancer.

Nicola Sturgeon: Better Cancer Care, An Action Plan recognised that early detection of cancer is crucial and the earlier it can be diagnosed, the better the chance of a positive outcome.

  The Scottish Government is committed to improving awareness of possible cancer symptoms amongst members of the public and medical staff. The Scottish Cancer Taskforce (SCT) has been working with the Scottish Cancer Coalition in the area of awareness raising of cancer generally and recently held a national workshop to consider these issues in more detail. It will consider specific actions to help improve the awareness of cancer symptoms at a future meeting.

  Action has been taken to ensure doctors across the country have up to date referral guidelines to ensure patients presenting with possible symptoms of oesophageal cancer are quickly and efficiently referred for further investigation. Such guidelines include SIGN Guideline 87 on the Management of Oesophageal and Gastric Cancer and SIGN Guideline 68 on Dyspepsia (which is due to be updated this year). Managed clinical networks use these guidelines to develop patient referral and care pathways.

  Cancer services in Scotland have developed and improved significantly in recent years, with more doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals and state of the art equipment in all five cancer centres.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people have died of oesophageal cancer in each of the last five years.

Nicola Sturgeon: Data on the mortality from oesophageal cancer are available by calendar year at:

  http://www.isdscotland.org/isd/servlet/FileBuffer?namedFile=m_cancer_oesophagus.xls&pContentDispositionType=inline.

  The most recent calendar year for which complete.

Cancer

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether photodynamic therapy is available in Scotland and used to treat cancer patients.

Nicola Sturgeon: Photodynamic Therapy (PDT) is currently available in the areas covered by all three Regional Cancer Networks (North of Scotland, West of Scotland and South East Scotland) and is one form of treatment used to treat various types of cancer. The decision for the most appropriate treatment for an individual is the responsibility of the clinician in consultation with the patient, their family and carers.

Health

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether more use is to be made of telehealth for dermatology outpatients in light of the 113,125 new dermatology outpatient attendances in 2008-09, representing 7.8% of new outpatient attendances.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Centre for Telehealth (SCT) continues to support and encourage the clinical use of teledermatology. The SCT have indicated that the consensus view is that the clinical climate is not yet right for a national teledermatology solution. The SCT has recently become part of NHS24. As a service delivery and improvement organisation NHS24 will provide a national focus for telehealth related activity. NHS24 and the SCT are developing a national telehealth strategy and business plan in consultation with stakeholders. Next steps for projects such as the teledermatology project will be considered as part of this process which will be complete by April 2010.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will decide whether to give approval for the construction of the new Alexandria Medical Centre.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Outline Business Case for the Alexandria Medical Centre was considered by the Capital Investment Group at its meeting on 14 April 2009. At that meeting, issues around dental provision within Dumbarton were raised and these concerns were passed to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde to consider and address. The Outline Business Case will now be re-considered via expedited procedures when the outstanding issues around dental provision have been satisfactorily resolved.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) timescale and (b) capital cost is for the construction of the new Alexandria Medical Centre.

Nicola Sturgeon: The following table shows the outline timescale for completing the new Alexandria Medical Centre in recognition of the board’s current phased capital plan:

  

Approval of FBC
4th Quarter 2010


Construction Commence
1st Quarter 2011


Building Operational & Commissioned
2nd Quarter 2013


Post Project Evaluation
2nd Quarter 2014



  The capital cost for the construction of the new medical centre is circa £21 million.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the timescale for commissioning and building the new Alexandria Medical Centre has changed since approval of the outline business case by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Nicola Sturgeon: The timescale for commissioning and building the new Alexandria Medical Centre has not changed since approval of the outline business case by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde.

Health

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the capital cost profile is for the construction of the new Alexandria Medical Centre.

Nicola Sturgeon: The anticipated capital cost profile for the construction of the new Alexandria Medical Centre is set out in the following table:

  

2010-11
£1.2 million


2011-12
£8.6 million


2012-13
£7.51 million



  In addition, a further £3.5 million of capital investment is required in 2010-11 for the provision of dental chairs within the new facility.

Healthcare Associated Infection

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-29901 by Nicola Sturgeon on 18 December 2009 and in light of the threat from healthcare associated infection, whether it will revise the guidance to ensure early replacement of swan neck taps.

Nicola Sturgeon: There are no plans at present to amend the guidance in relation to swan neck taps. The current guidance prohibits their installation in new buildings and recommends their replacement in existing premises where they are damaged or faulty. There is no evidence to suggest that the current guidance on risk assessment procedures associated with the management of standing water in facilities where sporadic use is identified is in any way unsatisfactory.

Justice

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many orders for lifelong restriction have been issued in each year since their introduction, broken down by local authority area.

Kenny MacAskill: The Order for Lifelong Restriction (OLR), which is a life sentence, has been available to the High Court of the Justiciary since June 2006. The following table sets out the number of Order for Lifelong Restriction sentences imposed by the court:

  

Year
No. of OLRs


2006
1


2007
4


2008
12


2009
26


2010
3


Total
46

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30205 by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010, what the term normal circumstances covers and what abnormal or other circumstances might require use of lethal measures.

Richard Lochhead: The term "normal circumstances" was used to describe situations where a satisfactory case has been made that non-lethal measures are not, or would not be effective.

  It is not possible to predict precisely all other circumstances. It might, however, include circumstances where non-lethal measures cannot be used because of potential impacts on other marine life. It might include circumstances where non-lethal measures prove ineffective against individual seals. It might also cover unpredictable extreme circumstances where the Scottish Government has to take emergency action, for example, to preserve public health or safety or to prevent the spread of disease as set out in the provisions of the Marine (Scotland) Bill.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive what proportion of operators of aquaculture and fisheries equipment has shot seals in the last five years without having (a) antipredator nets, (b) properly tensioned antipredator nets and (c) acoustic deterrent devices in place.

Richard Lochhead: This information is not collected centrally.

  The new seal licensing system set out in the Marine (Scotland) Bill will, for the first time, collect information on anti-predator nets and acoustic deterrents as part of the licence application process.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30205 by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010, whether the new seal licence system will ensure that all non-lethal measures are used by operators of aquaculture and fisheries equipment and whether a record will be kept of those non-lethal measures that prove to be ineffective and the reasons for their ineffectiveness.

Richard Lochhead: It may not be practical to insist that all non-lethal measures are used by fisheries or fish farms before a licence can be issued.

  There are a wide variety of non-lethal measures available. It is known that some are ineffective, or not suitable, in some areas, because of their impacts on other marine mammals.

  The new seal licence system will, for the first time, allow information on non-lethal measures currently in use and their perceived effectiveness to be collected for evaluation with a view to making recommendations for best practice.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-30205 by Richard Lochhead on 15 January 2010, when the cetacean-friendly seal scarer will be field tested and whether its use, if found to be effective, will be made mandatory for operators of aquaculture and fisheries equipment.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has recently approved funding to support the field testing process and this will begin soon. It would be wrong at this stage to prejudge the potential results of this process. It is, however, hoped that such non-lethal measures will eventually replace lethal options in most cases.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive how many seals have been culled under the Moray Firth Seal Management Plan; whether there are plans to extend the scheme across Scotland and, if so, how many seals might be culled in each year; how the plan relates to the new seal licence system, and whether culling will be used in cases where licences to shoot seals are not granted.

Richard Lochhead: There is no culling of seals in Scotland. The Moray Firth Seal Management Plan permits limited local seal management under licence conditions to protect fisheries.

  The following table is a record of seals licensed to be shot and actual seals shot since the plan started in 2005.

  

 
Grey Licensed
Grey Shot
Common Licensed
Common Shot


2005
50
47
60
46


2006
57
42
43
17


2007
60
29
50
13


2008
60
20
50
16


2009
60
9
30
8



  The new seal licence system under the Marine (Scotland) Bill will control seal management across Scotland from 2011. Applications for a licence may be submitted by those seeking to manage seals in order to protect their fisheries or fish farms. Applications will be judged against strict criteria including information on damage and the effectiveness of non-lethal alternatives.

  It is not possible at this point to predict how many seal licence applications will be received, how many will be granted, how many seals will be licensed or how many might be killed under licence.

  Under the Marine (Scotland) Bill it will be an offence to kill or take seals without a licence.

Special Advisers

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many special advisers it employs, broken down by (a) portfolio, (b) job title and (b) salary band.

John Swinney: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-27902 on 25 January 2010 as it provides information on the number of special advisers and pay bands. Information relating to an individual’s pay band is regarded as personal. The full year cost of the current team of special advisers is estimated to be £765,000. By comparison the cost of the 12 special advisers employed by the previous administration in 2006-07 was £854,376.

  The current special advisers’ specific responsibilities are as follows:

  

Name
Specific Responsibilities


Kevin Pringle Senior Special Adviser
Strategic co-ordination across all portfolios, political spokesperson and senior adviser on communications issues. 


Stephen Noon Senior Special Adviser
Senior adviser on policy matters across all portfolios with emphasis on FMQs, Finance, the Economy and Constitutional Issues.


Noel Dolan Senior Special Adviser
Senior policy adviser to the Deputy First Minister on Health, Wellbeing, Housing and Sport policy and media issues.


Geoff Aberdein Special Adviser
Liaison with FM’s Private office; adviser on FM diary issues. Lead on 2014.


Jennifer Erickson Special Adviser 
Support on Policy and Communications for Economic Issues (part-time)


Stephen Gethins Special Adviser 
Support on policy and communications for Environment and Rural Affairs, Europe and External Relations, Energy and Climate Change


Colin McAllister Special Adviser 
Support on policy and communications for Education, Justice and Culture.


John McFarlane Special Adviser 
Policy Adviser, Parliamentary liaison working with Minister for Parliamentary Business and the Parliamentary Liaison Officers


Will McLeish Special Adviser 
Political spokesperson, advice on communications issues and liaison with broadcasters.


Stuart Nicolson Special Adviser 
Political spokesperson, advice on communications issues.



  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.